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I. Core Concepts and Pathogenesis of Cancer in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine does not have a specific term for “cancer.” Based on symptoms such as masses, accumulations, pain, and cachexia, these conditions are classified under categories such as “zheng-jia,” “ji-ju,” “yan,” and “du-liu.” The core pathogenesis is uniformly defined as “deficiency at the root and excess at the branch,” which serves as the foundation for the pattern-differentiation and treatment of all cancers.

1. Core Pathogenesis: “Deficiency at the Root, Excess as the Manifestation”

Deficiency at the Root (Internal Causes): Deficiency of vital energy (zhengqi) is the fundamental breeding ground for the development of cancer. Congenital constitutional deficiency, excessive postnatal exertion, irregular diet, emotional imbalance, and age-related physical decline lead to deficiencies in the body’s qi and blood, yin and yang, and organ functions. This results in weakened immunity and an inability to transform and metabolize pathogenic factors within the body, thereby laying the groundwork for carcinogenesis. Among these, deficiency of the spleen and kidneys is central: the spleen is the source of the generation of qi and blood, while the kidneys are the root of congenital essence; when both the spleen and kidneys are deficient, the body’s vital energy has no source.

Excess Manifestations (External Causes): Against the backdrop of deficient vital energy, the normal ascending and descending movements of qi become disrupted, giving rise to six major pathological products: qi stagnation, blood stasis, phlegm condensation, dampness obstruction, heat-toxin, and cancerous toxin. These intertwine and, over time, coalesce into masses and accumulate to form cancerous toxin. Among these, cancerous toxin is the tumor-specific pathogenic factor, characterized by concealment, invasiveness, metastasis, and intractability.

2. Core Principles of Tumor Onset

The academic views of the Grand Masters of Traditional Chinese Medicine are clear: the disruption of the ascending and descending movements of qi is the key trigger for tumor development. The liver governs the free flow of qi, while the lungs govern the descent and regulation of the triple burner. Prolonged emotional depression and stagnation of qi lead to systemic disorders in the metabolism of qi, blood, and body fluids, causing phlegm, blood stasis, and toxins to intertwine, ultimately inducing carcinogenesis or promoting tumor progression. In short: When vital energy is deficient, pathogenic factors arise; when the flow of qi is disrupted, tumors form; and when cancerous toxins accumulate, cancer develops.

II. Traditional Chinese Medicine Cancer Prevention System (Three-Tiered “Treating Before Disease” Prevention and Control)

The greatest strength of TCM in cancer prevention and treatment lies in “treating before disease” (治未病), which encompasses three stages: prevention before illness, prevention of progression once illness has set in, and prevention of recurrence after recovery. This approach reduces the risk of carcinogenesis at its root, halts the progression of precancerous lesions, and prevents postoperative recurrence and metastasis.

1. Preventing Disease Before It Occurs: Eliminating the Conditions for Carcinogenesis (Healthy Population)

Core Principles: Strengthen the body’s vital energy and consolidate its foundation; regulate the flow of qi; eliminate pathogenic factors; improve constitutional health; and eliminate the conditions for the proliferation of cancerous toxins at the root.

Regulating Emotions: All diseases arise from qi. Prolonged anxiety, depression, and irritability lead to stagnation of liver qi, which is the primary cause of tumors. In daily life, one should soothe the liver and regulate qi, maintain a peaceful state of mind, and avoid prolonged stagnation of qi.

Dietary Nourishment: Avoid raw, cold, greasy, spicy, moldy, and pickled foods to prevent the generation of phlegm and dampness, as well as the accumulation of heat that produces toxins; eat three regular meals a day to protect the spleen and stomach, ensuring sufficient production of qi and blood.

Balanced Daily Routine: Avoid staying up late and overexertion to preserve the yang qi of the spleen and kidneys and prevent the depletion of vital energy; Engage in moderate exercise to promote the circulation of qi and blood and transform phlegm and dampness.

Constitutional Regulation: Constitutions characterized by qi deficiency, phlegm-dampness, blood stasis, yin deficiency, and liver depression are at high risk for cancer. These imbalances can be corrected through early intervention with Chinese herbal medicine, moxibustion, and medicinal diets.

2. Preventing Progression After Onset: Intervening in Precancerous Lesions (High-Risk/Precancerous Populations)

For precancerous conditions such as atrophic gastritis, intestinal polyps, breast nodules, thyroid nodules, lung nodules, and cirrhosis, we do not resort to blind surgical resection. Instead, we focus on resolving phlegm and dispersing nodules, invigorating blood and resolving stasis, clearing heat and detoxifying, and strengthening the spleen to support vital energy. Through syndrome-differentiated intervention, we prevent nodules, hyperplasia, and polyps from transforming into malignant tumors and halt the progression of malignant changes.

3. Post-Recovery Prevention: Preventing Recurrence and Metastasis (Recovering Patients)

Following cancer surgery or the completion of radiation and chemotherapy, microscopic cancerous toxins remain in the body, and the body’s vital energy has not yet fully recovered—making this a high-risk period for recurrence and metastasis. Traditional Chinese Medicine focuses on “strengthening the root and clearing the source,” providing long-term regulation of organ functions to eliminate residual cancerous toxins, stabilize the internal environment, and reduce the probability of recurrence and metastasis at the root.

III. Core Treatment Principles and Mainstream Academic Concepts in Traditional Chinese Medicine for Cancer

Modern TCM oncology treatment has moved away from the “single-therapy approach of using toxins to combat toxins” and has developed a standardized, individualized, comprehensive treatment system. Its core principles are “strengthening the body’s vital energy without leaving pathogenic factors behind” and “eliminating pathogenic factors without harming the body’s vital energy,” while mainstream academic concepts guide precise clinical treatment.

1. Two Core Treatment Principles

Strengthening the Body’s Vital Energy and Consolidating the Foundation: This principle runs throughout the entire course of cancer treatment. By strengthening the spleen, tonifying qi, nourishing blood, replenishing yin, and warming yang, it replenishes the body’s vital energy and enhances the immune system, enabling the body to resist and eliminate cancerous toxins through its own vital energy. This approach is suitable for patients in the middle and late stages of cancer, those with weak constitutions, and those who have undergone radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

Eliminating Pathogenic Factors and Combating Cancer: Targeting qi stagnation, blood stasis, phlegm condensation, heat toxins, and cancer toxins within the body, this approach employs methods such as regulating qi, resolving blood stasis, resolving phlegm, detoxifying, dispersing nodules, and “using poison to attack poison.” It inhibits tumor proliferation and controls the progression of lesions. This is suitable for patients with early-stage tumors, those in relatively good physical condition, and those with active lesions.

2. Mainstream Academic Systems of Modern TCM Oncology

The Theory of “Strengthening the Foundation and Clearing the Source”: This is the core mainstream philosophy of TCM oncology in China. “Strengthening the Foundation” refers to tonifying the vital energy of the zang-fu organs, while “Clearing the Source” refers to eliminating cancer toxins and pathological turbid pathogens from the body, thereby achieving a balance between strengthening the healthy energy and expelling pathogenic factors. This approach is suitable for treatment throughout the entire course of the disease.

The Concept of “Living with Cancer”: Proposed by Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine Zhou Daihan, this approach applies to inoperable mid- to late-stage tumors where complete eradication is not feasible. Rather than forcing tumor elimination, it focuses on regulating the body and balancing the forces of pathogenic factors and the body’s vital energy to inhibit tumor progression. The goal is to achieve tumor stabilization, symptom relief, improved quality of life, and extended survival—a state of “living with cancer”—which serves as the core therapeutic strategy for mid- to late-stage tumors.

The “Five-Treatment Comprehensive Therapy”: A standardized TCM oncology treatment protocol comprising protective therapy, consolidation therapy, maintenance therapy, adjunctive therapy, and TCM-only therapy, precisely tailored to the different treatment phases of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.

IV. TCM Syndrome Differentiation Treatment Plans for Different Stages of Cancer

The core of TCM treatment lies in stage-based syndrome differentiation and a “one formula per patient” approach. Treatment is tailored based on the early, middle, or late stages of the tumor, the phase of Western medical treatment, and the patient’s constitution; there are no one-size-fits-all formulas.

1. Early-Stage Cancer (Before and After Surgery, No Metastasis)

Pathogenesis: The patient’s vital energy ( Zhengqi ) is still sufficient; cancerous toxins have just begun to accumulate; the condition is primarily characterized by external excess (symptomatic) with only mild underlying deficiency (constitutional).

Treatment Focus: Preoperatively, eliminate pathogenic factors and disperse nodules, shrink the lesion, and reduce the invasiveness of the procedure; postoperatively, rapidly strengthen the body’s vital energy, repair surgical trauma, clear residual cancerous toxins, and prevent recurrence.

Common Therapeutic Methods: Regulating qi and resolving phlegm; promoting blood circulation and resolving stasis; clearing heat and detoxifying; softening hardness and dispersing nodules; with a small amount of treatment to fortify the body’s vital energy and consolidate the root.

2. Intermediate-Stage Cancer (During Radiation, Chemotherapy, Targeted, or Immunotherapy)

Pathogenesis: There is intense conflict between pathogenic factors and the body’s vital energy. While Western medical treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy kill cancer cells, they also deplete qi and blood, damage the spleen and stomach, and scorch yin fluids, resulting in a state where deficiency and excess coexist.

Treatment Focus: Reducing toxicity and enhancing efficacy—this is the core strength of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Alleviating side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue, hair loss, bone marrow suppression, liver and kidney damage, rashes, and edema; improving sensitivity to radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy; reducing drug resistance; and enhancing anticancer efficacy.

Common Treatment Methods: Strengthening the spleen and harmonizing the stomach; tonifying qi and nourishing blood; nourishing yin and generating body fluids; tonifying the liver and kidneys; while also gently expelling pathogenic factors and detoxifying.

3. Advanced Cancer (Inoperable, Palliative Care Stage)

Pathogenesis: Severe deficiency of vital energy (zhengqi) and rampant cancerous toxins, representing the extreme of “deficiency at the root and excess at the branch,” leading to organ failure.

Treatment Focus: Prioritize strengthening the body’s vital energy (fu zheng) while supplementarily expelling pathogenic factors (qu xie); avoid aggressive tumor-targeting approaches; instead, prioritize alleviating symptoms such as loss of appetite, sleep disturbances, pain, and fatigue to improve quality of life, prolong survival, and enable living with the cancer.

Common Treatment Methods: Vigorously tonify qi and blood; warm and tonify the spleen and kidneys; nourish the liver and kidneys; harmonize yin and yang; and gently clear toxins to gradually eliminate cancerous toxins.

V. Common TCM Anti-Cancer Treatment Methods

Clinically, a comprehensive approach is adopted, primarily using decoctions and combining multiple methods for all-around regulation and treatment:

TCM Decoctions (Core): Formulas are prescribed based on pattern differentiation, with a unique formula for each individual, precisely tailored to the patient’s constitution and condition to achieve multiple effects: strengthening the body’s vital energy, expelling pathogenic factors, reducing toxicity, and preventing recurrence.

Patented Chinese Medicines: Suitable for patients in the stable or recovery phases, these provide a convenient way to consolidate therapeutic effects. Examples include tonifying and detoxifying formulations, which must be selected based on syndrome differentiation.

External TCM Therapies: Moxibustion, acupoint plaster application, acupuncture, and herbal steam baths help alleviate symptoms such as pain, fluid accumulation, gastrointestinal discomfort, and limb numbness. These methods are non-invasive and safe.

Medicinal Dietary Therapy: Based on the principle that “medicines and food share the same origin,” this approach strengthens the spleen and vital energy, resolves phlegm, and detoxifies, helping to improve physical constitution and support recovery.

Emotional and Exercise Therapy: Soothes the liver and regulates qi to balance emotions; combined with gentle exercises such as Baduanjin and Tai Chi, it promotes the smooth flow of qi and enhances vital energy.

VI. Core Advantages

Comprehensive Coverage: Covers the entire cycle—from prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation to relapse prevention—with no gaps in treatment;

Reduced Toxicity and Enhanced Efficacy: Significantly reduces the side effects of Western medical treatments, enhances anticancer efficacy, and reduces drug resistance;

Patient-Centered Approach: Does not blindly target the lesion but takes into account both physical constitution and quality of life, making it suitable for frail and advanced-stage patients;

Long-Term Recurrence Prevention: Regulates the body’s microenvironment to eliminate the root causes of cancer regrowth and reduce the rates of recurrence and metastasis.